Come November, when the air temperature in the UAE will be less “sauna” and more “Mediterranean summer”, Dubai’s foodies will be able to sit outside by the water at Dubai Festival City’s picturesque Marina Pavilion, and enjoy a hearty slap-up meal courtesy of none other than celebrity chef Jamie Oliver.

The British darling is known for revolutionising school dinners in England (if you don’t believe me, let your children watch his revolting You Tube video, which will put them off chicken nuggets forever). In Dubai, he’s the latest of a clutch of celebrity chefs to follow in the meaty footsteps of Gordon Ramsay, who pioneered the way for British chefs in Dubai with the opening of Verre at the Hilton Dubai Creek Hotel back in 2001.

Oliver’s Dubai outpost – a branch of his popular Jamie’s Italian – will be his first restaurant outside Britain, offering (I hope) his signature style of easy-to-share dishes, satisfying pastas and melt-in-the-mouth Italian desserts at “affordable” prices.

Back when Ramsay opened Verre, there was a huge buzz about having a “celebrity” chef in Dubai. People were falling over themselves to get a reservation either there or at the poor-man’s version, Glasshouse, which was then a Ramsay-directed brasserie located across the hotel landing. Attendance at one of Ramsay’s cookery Master Classes – taught by Ramsay himself – was “the” thing for the yummy mummies to swank about at the school gates.

Since then, celebrity chefs have been opening restaurants in Dubai faster than we can shake a leather-bound gastro-menu at them. These days, we’re able to take our pick of celebrity restaurants, with Marco Pierre White, Pierre Gagnaire, Giorgio Locatelli, Nobu Matsuhisa, Richard Sandoval, Vineet Bhatia and Gary Rhodes – the latter of whom even has two restaurants within spitting distance of each other – all represented.

But, for me, eating out in Dubai is not about a different celebrity chef experience for each night of the week; it’s about seeking out the small, local places that serve excellent food for a price that won’t leave you renegotiating the terms of your mortgage.

Ravi’s – a cheap Pakistani restaurant in Satwa – is legendary. I adore India House in Bur Dubai, an Indian restaurant where you used to pay a Dhs 1 (17p) supplement to sit upstairs with a tablecloth. My absolute favourite, though, is Bombay Chowpatty: a tacky-looking South Indian outlet located at the back of some of the city’s less salubrious shopping mall food courts. It dishes up a divine masala dosa or pav bhaji for less than £1 each. Sure, I’ll be putting on my heels and checking out Jamie’s Italian with the rest of them come the winter, but he’ll never replace those hidden gems that make up the true flavour of our city.